ANDREW BENNETT SHARES HIS THOUGHTS ON WOLVES PERFORMANCE AGAINST MAN CITY
Champions do what they do as City clinch last-minute VAR call. Another week of good performance and no points, this time VAR played a huge role in the game.
Gary O’Neil reverted to a back five, playing Toti, Dawson, and Bueno, with wing-backs Semedo and Ait-Nouri. A flat midfield three of Lemina, Andre, and Gomes supported Cunha behind Larsen, a more familiar setup to years gone by in the Premier League.
Sa, Semedo, Bueno, Dawson, Toti, Ait-Nouri, Andre (Doyle, 45), J. Gomes (Bellegarde, 90), Lemina, Cunha (Forbs, 67), Larsen (Guedes, 79).
City set up with their world-class superstars:
Ederson, Lewis, Stones, Dias, Gvardiol, Kovacic (Nunes, 86), Gundogan, Silva, Savinho (Grealish, 73), Doku (Foden, 67), Haaland.
The First Half.
The game started as expected, with the away side dominating the ball and passing it around well but without creating any clear chances.
In the 6th minute, a brilliant move from back to front caught City cold. Santi Bueno, a player who has been unlucky not to get more minutes, played a great ball down the right flank for Semedo to chase. He got in behind the City full-back and delivered a wonderful ball across goal for Wolves’ Norwegian number 9 to tap home. Strand Larsen put Wolves 1-0 up.
As the half continued, Wolves sat deep, forming a box across the middle of the pitch to push Manchester City wide. Doku regularly received the ball and took on Semedo with help from Gomes and Andre. The Wolves back line handled the barrage of the Champions’ pressure well and created another break where Cunha found Semedo, who was running one-on-one with Ederson. However, pressure from Gvardiol made the opportunity harder, and the Wolves wing-back saw his effort saved by Ederson for a corner.
City continued to attack the hosts, who were camped on the edge of the 18-yard box, creating little. Jose Sa was called into action with a wonderful save from Bernardo Silva, the keeper getting down low.
City finally found their way back to level terms with a stunning shot from Gvardiol outside the box into the top corner after a simple pass from Doku. No keeper in the league would have had a chance; it was a top-quality finish from the Croat.
The game continued as it had for much of the half, with minimal opportunities for the hosts to break. When they did, it was through Ait-Nouri down the left, but no chances were created.
As half-time approached, Jose Sa made another brilliant save from a Gvardiol effort from the edge of the box. Wolves did well to stop multiple free kicks on the edge of the box. Half-time arrived, and it was all even. Returning to a back five supported the defensive unit.
The Second Half.
The second half started as the first ended, with City dominating the ball in Wolves’ half. Their first opportunity came from another long-range shot from Dias, which Sa saved well. Wolves were conceding more chances as Savinho had several attempts, all fired over.
Wolves’ first opportunities of the second half came when substitutes combined. Doyle beat City’s pressure and played the ball to Forbs, who fired it across goal, but Strand Larsen failed to get onto the end of it.
City continued to dominate, utilising their bench by bringing on Foden, Grealish, and Nunes. Grealish delivered many crosses to the back post, dealt with by Dawson, Toti, and Ait-Nouri on different occasions. The only Norwegian at Molineux who found the back of the net was Strand Larsen, as Dawson pocketed Haaland.
As five minutes of additional time were added, City continued to dominate. Wolves finally got out as Forbs combined with Guedes, another second-half introduction, who charged forward only to be clipped, but no foul was given. With two minutes to go, City charged forward and earned another corner, which Wolves dealt with well, but the barrage continued. Multiple corners eventually led to devastation as John Stones powered a header past Jose Sa—or did he?
The linesman raised his flag for offside against Bernardo Silva, who impeded Sa. Time for PGMOL VAR checking the club badge. As usual, VAR went against Wolves, and the goal was given—2-1 to Manchester City. Boos rang around Molineux, and seconds later, the full-time whistle blew. In the chaos of VAR, Gary O’Neil received another yellow card, which could put him in the stands for an upcoming game as the cards accumulate.
To summarise the VAR call, when someone like Ben Foster, far from a friend of Molineux, says the goal should be ruled out, what can you do? Last season, the same thing happened when Kilman scored, and VAR ruled out the goal, overturning the on-field decision—a joke.
Many positives emerged as Wolves returned to the back five system and were seconds and a VAR call away from taking a point from the Champions. Hopefully, moving forward with a system the players are comfortable with, we will pick up some points in the coming weeks.
ARTICLE BY ANDREW BENNETT
From my first Wolves match against Chelsea in 2003 I fell in love with the team and matchday experience. I work in digital marketing and have lived in Germany and Estonia over the past few years, this doesn’t stop me following Wolves and ensuring all my international friends become invested to the Wolf pack. I enjoy football, board games, a pint and travelling always excited to try new things. You will find me in the north bank on a matchday.
